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I have no idea how these guys thought they could steal this much money from city meters and get away with it, especially given the huge discrepancy between what the pay & display meters were raking in versus these jerry-rigged old-fashioned meters.

Yet something tells me this is just the tip of a very corrupt iceberg, indeed.

Perhaps someone who’s been in Buffalo longer than I can confirm this: I heard that Mayor Brown once made a commitment to establish an office of public integrity, modelled on Rochester’s. Rochester’s office was established by Bob Duffy when he became mayor. He picked a retired FBI agent to head it, and its offices were established away from City Hall so that people could come in for meetings without being observed by any City Hall brass. It was a success — although Rochester (thankfully) never registered high on the dial for corruption in government, the office did find some things (especially notable, related to permits & demolitions) and some perps were walked. Also, citizens could (and did) talk with the office about concerns about various community & neighborhood organizations, and if the concerns merited further pursuit and the organizations did any business with the City, they would be looked into.

Back to Buffalo: one version of this I’ve heard is that such an office, based on this model, was to be created here. And that the position for the head of the office was actually created. But then no further action, and the position never filled.

Does anyone know any more about this? News like this naturally raises the question.